Snooker Luca Brecel, the 15-year-old European amateur champion from Belgium, will take his first step into the big time when he faces Hong Kong’s Marco Fu in the opening round of the new Players Tour Championship.

Already being touted as a future world champion, Brecel beat Jimmy White and Ken Doherty before losing 5-4 to Graeme Dott in the quarter-finals of the World Series in Portugal last summer.

Dott, who is also in action in the inaugural Tour event in Sheffield which starts on Friday, said: “Luca is an exceptional talent and, considering his age, he is amazingly calm and focused. Without a doubt, he should have a very bright future in the game.”

Leading lights such as Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Stephen Maguire, Peter Ebdon, along with Dott and White are among the line-up for the four-day event which will be the first of 12 played, with six in Sheffield and six in Europe.